Books!

I was noodling about and realized that Edeet Ravel, who wrote Ten Thousand Lovers, wrote two more books in the series. The first book was remarkable…it’s basically about the love affair between an American woman who goes over to Israel and an interrogator. It talks about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in really interesting ways, as well as being filled with really well done prose. I’ve mentioned it before as the one book I’d love to make a screen play out of, because when I was reading it I saw exactly how it could be done to keep the power of the book alive.

It’s weird, though. Usually when I like something as much as I like that book, I’d completely like, “Must get it as soon as possible!” but this time I’m wary. The first novel was perfection.
I also finished The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (yes, I had to look that up.) It was interesting because it was a really well written window into another world…17th century Persia, and it’s about this impulsive young woman who is driven to create a better world for herself through designing rugs. It talks about sighehs, a temporary marriage by contract – a woman’s family is paid so much money for a length of time. It’s an arrangement that seems to have no benefit to the woman whatsoever, but we won’t prattle on about that.

I’ve read all the books, for the most part, on the tops of my book piles. (I skipped Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night I can’t seem to remember enjoying trying to read it the first time.) I skipped Diary by Chuck Palahniuk because I love that book dearly, but don’t want to wear it out…and partly because Haunted disappointed me so bitterly I’ve not been able to trust him since. (Also, I looked at his website, and I’m so not interested in Snuff it’s not even funny.) I skipped a bunch of Dave Duncan books that I deeply desire to read because I don’t have them all. So yes, I’m complaining about the fact my books are not on shelves again. It took me an hour to track down an obscure fact about Vanilla the other night. It was sure it was in Schott’s, but it wasn’t, nor was it in Greive’s book…nor was it in the book about Vanilla folklore that I have. But, oddly and strangely enough, it was in one of my chocolate books. Go figure.

Cannot wait to have books where they belong. Fishing clothes out of garbage bags, that I can deal with. The bruises I have from bumping into furnature that shouldn’t be there, the fact I can’t find things I need for sewing…dealt with and done. But my books. I need them where they belong.